Mechelle De Craene, Special Education Teacher, Very Special Techies, General Excellence Award
Mechelle De Craene is contributing a new voice to the world of social computing with Very Special Techies, a grassroots project that encourages media literacy through multimodal learning opportunities for students with special needs.
De Craene said students in Very Special Techies have more of “a voice,” an authentic audience (beyond the teacher) and more technology skills than students in special education classes without technology. In addition to using media to aid in class instruction, De Craene started a class blog that serves as a virtual peer support group for her special needs students. Through blogs and digital storytelling, her students have shown increased writing motivation, more comfort with technology, and improved reading scores on standardized teaching.
Listen to De Craene’s podcast (MP3, 10.5 MB) to hear more about Very Special Techies and where you can find resources to enhance your classroom.